Coffee-making device



oct. 11, 1949. R.J.SHAR1= 2,484,054

"COFFEE MAKING DEVICE. Y

F11ed Aug. 1, 1945 3 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR.

" z3 .17 lff if f3 Bfmymo.

' ATTDRNEYE Oct. 1l, 1949. R. .J. SHARP 2,484,054

COFFEE MAKING DEVICE Filed Aug. l, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTE R N EYS [Oct- 11 1949- R. J. SHARP COFFEE MAKING' DEVICE I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledvAug. 1, 1945 Patented Oct. 1l, 1949 UNITED sTATEs PATENT 'OFFICE corran-MAKING DEVICE aenwick J. sharp, Guatemala, Guatemala Application August 1, 194s, seriam'o; 608,220

This invention appertains to improvements in beverage making devices, and has for an object to provide one of a practical, sturdy, and efiicient construction, for making beverages, particularly coee; the same being of a design which allows for the simultaneous brewing and dispensing of individual servings, in an economical, rapid, and sanitary manner; so that the beverage may be partaken of while in full aroma and flavor, without a leftover surplus to become stale, or be wasted.

Generally, my device utilizes water at city pressure and, by the use of an electrical, thermostatically controlled, heating element, associated with a supply tank having connection with a city main, the water within the tank is heated to a temperature above the boiling point and circulates from and -to the same through a distributing chamber from which a proper amount is to be subsequently discharged through sufficient ground coffee to make one cup, the discharge of the water being effected gradually in order that all of the desirable components are extracted and the completed beverage is delivered directly into a cup.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages of equal importance in View, the invention resides in the certain new and useful combination, construction, and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, set forth in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a preferred embodiment of the device, in accordance with the invention, and showing the manner of shifting the supporting rack for successively positioning a number of the tubular coffee making receptacles relativelyA to the hot water dispensing head;

Figure 2 is a top plan view;

Figure 3 is a. side elevation, showing the elevated position of the rack to engage the upper open end of the Ipositioned receptacle with the closure cap cari/led at the lower end of the hot water discharge tube, the control hand-lever being in its intermediate position of operation;

Figure 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 3, but showing the control hand-lever in its two other operative positions, in full lines at its lowermost position to allow for the shifting of the receptacle supporting rack relatively to the-dispensing head, and in broken lines at its uppermost position to cause the establishment of'communication between the distributing chamber and the discharge tube;

3 Claims. (Cl. 99-283) Figure 5 is a top plan view of the control handlever per se;

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the control hand-lever;

Figure '1 is a top plan view of one of the supporting arms for the receptacle supporting rack;

Figure 8 is an enlarged, vertical section-taken through the line 8--8 on Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 9 is horizontal section, taken through the line 9 9 on Figure 8,1ooking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary, elevational view, partly in section, showing the lower end portion of the beverage delivery tube;

Figure ll is a horizontal section, taken through the upper end portion of the beverage delivery tube, and showing the spring clamp for securing the lter element in place thereon; and,

Figure l2 is a vertical section, taken through the hot water tank, and showing the manner of installation of the electrical heating element in the removable cover of the tank.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the several views, the invention, as it is exemplined therein, is comprised in a hot water tank E, which is bracketed, as at 8, from a vertical support, such as a wall 1. Positioned beneath and projecting beyond the front side of the tank 6, is a platform or shelf I, to support a number of coffee cups or the like 2; it being supported adjacent its rear edge on the lower ends of a pair of vertical rods 3, which, in turn, are spring sustained, as at l, from brackets 5, extending laterally from opposite sides of the tank 6, the

rods being provided with lock nuts 9, above and below the platform I, to secure the latter thereon.

Secured on each of the rods 3, immediately above the spring' 4, by means of a set screw I0, is a supporting member, in the form of a forwardly and upwardly curving arm I2, which carries an inverted, substantially U-shaped member I3, at its free end, to support an elongated rack member I6, the latter being provided with a set of aligned openings to have a like number of tubular receptacles I1 seated in the same, and the members I3 with grooves I5, extending crosswise of the inner sides of the leg portions thereof, to allow the rack member to be slidably shifted in an endwise direction, for purposes to be presently explained. The receptacles I1 are preferably cylindrical in form and provided with ansame in the openings in the rack I6.

Each of the receptacles I1 is open at its upper and lower'ends, the lower end being inwardly flanged, to form a seat for a bushing 22 'for the slidable support of a beverage delivery tube or nozzle I9, the upper end of which is outwardly hanged, as at 2l, to seat on the bushing, when normally disposed. The upper side of the busliing II is formed with an annular recess, encircling the delivery tube I9, to seat a spring element 26 within the same for the purpose of securing a lter element 25, such as a disc of muslin or the like, taut across the anged end 24, which end, when covered with the filter element, constitutes a piston to eject used coffee grounds from the receptacle, upon its removal from the rack. The delivery tube I9 has its lower end perforated, and above the perforations is exteriorly flanged, as at 29, to support a coil spring 21, encircled about the tube, under tension between the same and the lower end of the receptacle I1, for the purpose of retaining the tube in its normal position.

The hot water tank 6 is preferably cylindrical in form and made with spaced inner and outer walls 39 and 3I to receive a thermal insulation 32 therebetween, substantially as shown in Figure I2. The 'top of the tank 6 is provided with a removable cover 33, which is secured in place by means of bolts or the like 34, and a central opening through which a beating element 35 depends for the immersion of its lower portion in the water; the upper end portion of the heating element being provided with an annular ange 35 for its support and securement, by means of screws or. the like 38. Also, the heating element 35 is provided with a conductor cord 36 for its connection with a suitable current source (not shown) and in circuit with a thermostatic control device 31, mounted on the cover 33 of the tank 6.

A cold water connection 39, from the house service supply, enters the tank 6 adjacent its bottom, and an outlet connection 40 leads therefrom adjacent its top. A second outlet connection 4I leads laterally from the tank 6, adJacent its top end, to supply hot water to the top of a valve chamber 4, while a return connection 42 leads from a side of the latter and enters the tank 6, at a point below the outlet connection 4I, substantially as is best shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The valve chamber 43 is supported on a nipple 46, which is screw-threaded into a boss 41h, formed on the top end wall 41a of a cylinder 41; the latter constituting a dispensing head for the hot water, open at its lower end and housing a piston 48 that is normally tensioned in a downward direction by a coil spring 49. The piston 48 has its periphery channeled to receive a ring packing 48a, and the cylinder 41 an adjustable air vent or valve 50, seated in its top wall, to admit air on the downward movement of the piston and to bleed air from above the piston on its upward movement. v

The piston 48 is adjustably secured on a tubular element 5I, which extends upwardly through therethrough, whenever the tube is forced upwardly to lift the valve body from its seat 46a.

Screw-threaded on the lower end of the tube 5I, below the piston 43, is an inverted dished cap i62, which is adapted to seat on the top end of a re- 69, to engage with a cross-pin 60 in the upper end of each o! a pair of rods 3. The end of the one of the arms is extended forwardly beyond the cutout 69 and shaped to provide an actuating handle 6I.

In the use and operation of tlie device, as thus constructed and arranged, and with the heating element 35 connected in on the electric current supply and the operative parts normally disposed by having the hand-lever 58 set at its lowermost position as shown in full lines in Figure 4; the receptacles I1 will be loaded with individual makings of ground coffee and seated in the openings in the rack I6 and the latter then shifted in its supports II to center the flrst of the receptacles beneath the closure cap 52, carried at the lower end of the hot water discharge tube 5I. A cup 2 will now be placed on the platform I and the hand-lever 58 then raised to its intermediate position, during which motion the platform and therack will be lifted and the upper open end of the rst of the receptacles I1 forced into engagement with the closure cap 53. With the water in the tank 6 heated to the temperature setting of the thermostat 31, it will circulate between the tank and the valve chamber 43 through the pipe lconnections 39 and 49. Now to brew the rst serving of coffee, the hand-lever 58 will be raised to the boss 41h and the nipple 46 and into the valve its uppermost position, as shown in broken lines in Figure 4. Here, the platform I and the rack I6 will again be lifted and cause the rst of the receptacles I1 to transmit the lifting motion to and through the closure cap 53 to the hot water discharge tube 5I and the piston 48, vthe upward movement of the latter acting to compress the coil spring 49 and that of the discharge tube to -lift the valve body 5Ia from its seat 46a. During the upward movement of the piston 48, air will be bled from the cylinder 41 by opening the vent 50 to atmosphere. With the lifting of the valve body 5Ia, hot water within the valve chamber 43 will pass through the perforations 5 I b and downward- -ly through the tube 5I from which it discharges over the ground coffee in the rst of the receptacles I1. After passing through the ground coffee, the liquid passes downwardly through the filter element 25and the delivery tube I9 and into the cup 2. However, immediately following the second raising movement of the hand-lever 58, it is returned to its intermediate position to lower the rack I6 from its normal engagement with the flange I8 of the rst of the receptacles I1, so that the latter ls gradually lowered with the downward movement of the piston 48 and the discharge tube 5I by the action of the coil spring 49, the expansion effort of which is initiated immediately following the lowering of the rack I 3.

The discharge of hot water, in sumcient amount to make the one cup of brew, is regulated by the dominance of the coil spring 49 over the coil springs IIL/as well as by the degree of adjustment of the vent 50, during the downward movement of the piston 4B, which movement results in the gradual closing of the valve body Sla on its seat. With the initial raising of the hand-lever 58, the coil springs All, normally held under compression when the hand-lever is set at its lowermost position, expand and exert the desired lift of the platform I and the rack I6 and the necessary pressure of the upper open end of the rst of the receptacles I'I against the closure cap 52 to prevent leakage therebetween. With the filling of the cup 2, and its removal from the platform I, the downward movement of the hand-lever 58 from its intermediate position results in the cornpression of the coil springs 4 and the disengagement of the i'lrst of the receptacles I1 from the closure cap 52. By now shifting the rack I6, the several receptacles will be successively brought into position beneath the closure cap, when the operation of brewing is then repeated. As hot water is drawn from the tank 6, the normal pressure of the service water supply will force its way past the check valve 39 and into the tank to replace the amount withdrawn, and, in order to remove used grounds of coiee from a receptacle I1, the receptacle will be removed from the rack I6 and the grounds ejected by a manipulation of the piston 23 constituted in the delivery tube I9 and the filter element 25.

Having thus fully described a practical and preferred embodiment of my device, it is to be understood that the words which I have used are words of description rather than of limitation, and that changes within the purview of the appended claims may be made, without departing from the true scope and spirit of my invention in its broader aspects.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, hot water tank connected with a city water supply line, a heating element depending1 within said tank and connected with a source of electrical current, a valve chamber connected with said tank for the circulation of hot water therethrough, a vertically movable discharge tube depending from within said valve chamber, a valve body closing the upper end of said tube and normally engaged with a seat in the bottom side of said valve chamber about the tube, said tube being perforated immediately below said valve body, a cap carried on the lower end of said discharge tube, a cup supporting platform positioned below said valve chamber, a rack spaced above said platform, a. tubular receptacle supported on said rack to receive a measured amount of the beverage making substance, a discharge nozzle depending from within said receptacle. means mounted on said tank for supporting said platform and said rack for vertical movement relative thereto, said means being manually operable to effect the lifting of said platform and said rack to cause the top end of said receptacle to engage with said cap, the pressure of said receptacle on said cap acting to lift said discharge tube for the displacement of said valve body from its seat whereby hot water from within said valve chamber will pass through said perforations and y downwardly of the discharge tube and from thence into the receptacle and through the beverage making substance for its subsequent discharge from said nozzle into said cup, and automatic means for causing said Valve body to close on its seat during the downiiow of hot water through said discharge tube to effect the brewing of the beverage in sui'licient amount to ll a .cup positioned on said Platform beneat said discharge nozzle.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, with the first named means comprising in a pair of vertically movable rods, one at each side of said tank, guide members for said rods mounted on the lower end of said tank, said platform being supported on the ends of said rods below said guide members, coil springs on said rods and seated on said guide members, arms adjustably secured on said rods at the upper ends of said coil springs, said arms extending forwardly of said tank to support said rack above said platform, and a hand-lever having pin and slot connections with the upper ends of said rods to effect the lifting and lowering of said platform and said rack relatively to said cap, said coil springs acting to tension said arms in an upward direction to forcibly engage the upper end of said receptacle with said cap.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1, with said automatic means comprised in a cylinder positioned below said valve chamber and having said discharge tube extending-downwardly through the same, said cylinder being closed at its top end and open at its bottom end, a piston within said cylinder and adjustably secured on said discharge tube, a coil spring within said cylinder above said piston, and an air regulating valve mounted in the top end wall of said cylinder.

RENWICK J. SHARP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,283,967 Brown May 26, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 18,541 France Feb. 16, 1914 

